France says it has struck at Islamic State in Syria

New York Times

September 27, 2015

Photo: -, Handout / AFP / Getty Images

This handout picture released on September 27, 2015 by French Defense Audiovisual Communication and Production Unit (ECPAD) shows French soldiers walking on the tarmac of a base in The Gulf, as part of France's Operation Chammal launched in September 2015 in support of the US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS). France carried out on September 27, 2015 its first air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria, launching a military operation as Russia and Western powers sought the upper hand in shaping the future of the war-torn country. President Francois Hollande said six French warplanes hit an IS training camp near the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, and that more air strikes could follow in the coming weeks. AFP PHOTO / ECPAD
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This handout picture released on September 27, 2015 by French...

PARIS — In France’s first airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, warplanes destroyed a training camp, President Francois Hollande announced Sunday.

At a news conference in New York, where he had arrived for the U.N. General Assembly, Hollande said the warplanes had attacked the training camp in eastern Syria after it had been identified by French air surveillance with help from the coalition of Western and Middle Eastern states conducting the air campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh.

“Our forces reached their objectives: the camp was completely destroyed,” Hollande said. “Six jets were used, including five Rafales, and they were able to ensure that our operation did not have any consequences for the civilian population.”

He added that France might launch other strikes in the coming weeks if necessary, with the goal of “identifying targets that are training camps or places where we know that the Daesh terrorist group can threaten the security of our country.”

Prime Minister Manuel Valls also confirmed to reporters in southeastern France on Sunday that the airstrikes had taken place.

“We are striking Daesh in Syria because this terrorist organization prepares and organizes attacks in France from Syria, from these sanctuaries,” Valls said. “We are therefore acting in self-defense, which Article 51 of the United Nations Charter permits us to do.”

While France was already involved in the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq, it was initially reluctant to hit the group in Syria out of fear of indirectly helping the Syrian president, Bashar Assad.

But the French government has shifted its position in the face of fears that the Islamic State is recruiting disaffected youths in France and sending or coordinating with European fighters back home to stage attacks. The flow of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe has also apparently pushed the French government to be more active in the conflict.